


Take Him Home

by suchanadorer



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Lucifer's Cage, Non-Graphic Violence, Prompt Fill, SRS 2012
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-28
Updated: 2013-01-28
Packaged: 2017-11-27 08:05:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/659714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suchanadorer/pseuds/suchanadorer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt at SRS: Castiel briefly encounters Lucifer when he descends to Hell to rescue Sam Winchester. He's a little surprised that Lucifer doesn't try to stop him taking Sam away, maybe even seems to encourage it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Take Him Home

It’s a blast furnace filled with screaming and the iron stench of blood. Castiel does not relish his return to Hell, but God brought him back for a purpose, and he is certain that this is part of it. He is afraid, but resolute. Last time he was here, he was surrounded by his garrison. Coming alone is both more and less dangerous. He can move unseen, but he is also less protected.

Souls grab at him as he passes, pleading for him to ease their suffering, or to redeem them. They didn’t mean it, didn’t know God was looking, or didn’t know God was real. He is followed by confessions, and when it gets to be too much he unfurls his wings and flies above them.

The Cage is not easy to locate. Last time the garrison had given it a wide berth, but now Castiel soars directly towards it, led by the chill of Lucifer and the brilliance of Michael’s grace.

The edges of it are fluid still, like a membrane. Two archangels straining to be free of it means that it hasn’t sealed itself completely. Castiel is relieved for the extra time, but he hurries nonetheless, folding his wings and plunging inside.

The wall of the Cage resists him, but Castiel struggles against it until he falls through. It is a chaos of shifting interiors as it tries to accommodate the will of four – now five – separate beings. Two archangels, two vessels, and now Castiel. He needs to find the boys and bring them out as fast as he can, lest he be trapped here as well.

There is a cacophony of sound and constantly changing geography as Castiel wanders. He is at turns freezing cold and so hot that he collapses to the ground. He is plunged into darkness and blinded, and more than once the surface beneath him gives way completely, so that he has to thrust out his wings in order to keep from falling into an abyss.

He is more afraid than he has ever been in his life, but he does not regret this choice. His Father brought him back at Stull Cemetery, and he will use that gift to give Sam Winchester and Adam Milligan back their freedom. This was not part of the bargain. It is a price they should not have to pay.

Castiel senses Lucifer before he sees him. He comes from behind, and he is crawling. It has been a very long time since Castiel saw Lucifer’s true form. He had been beautiful then, but after all his time in the Cage he is a ruined thing, with broken, drooping wings and a stooped back.

Castiel moves to attack Lucifer, but the archangel shies away, pulling his wings in around himself. There is something in his arms, and he is protecting it fiercely, Castiel realizes. Lucifer does not attempt to deflect Castiel’s aggression in any way other than to defend what he is holding.

The entire Cage lurches, and for a moment the geography stills. Fear rolls off Lucifer in waves that Castiel can almost see, and it terrifies him. Lucifer does not know fear. At least, not for himself.

Lucifer lunges at Castiel and presses something into his arms. Castiel looks down at it and is astonished. It’s Sam’s body, impossibly small between the forms of two angels. Lucifer is desperate, and he begs Castiel to leave, now, as fast as he can. _Take Sam and go._ This Cage is Lucifer’s home and he knows its moods. Castiel is running out of time. He pushes at Castiel, urges him onward, even as his fear turns to sadness to see his vessel taken from him.

There is a shriek from a distant corner, followed by the sound of huge wings. Michael is coming. He will allow his brother no mercy, and that vengeance will surely extend to Lucifer’s vessel as well. Castiel leaps up, pushing as hard as he can towards what looks like a crack in the sky above him. 

He looks down, once. Michael has pounced onto Lucifer’s back, and Lucifer is screaming. Adam is nowhere to be seen, and Castiel laments that he must be left behind. There had been no battle at the graveyard, but Michael has not given up on the mission given to him by their Father. He will do what he can to destroy Lucifer, even here.

The Cage wants to let Castiel go even less than it wanted to let him in. He scratches and claws as it squeezes in tight around him. Sam weighs almost nothing, and Castiel is constantly checking on him. He looks like he’s sleeping, and Castiel can only hope that he will have no memory of the horrors that they pass as he finally pulls them free of the Cage and climbs back towards the Earth. 

Fear and despair slide off him like water and he is filled with hope as he leaves the depths of Hell. He is sorry to have left Adam behind, but Michael will protect him. Sam’s safety was paramount, and that has been achieved. That Lucifer had given him his vessel so freely was unexpected, but Castiel does not linger on the thought. The idea that Lucifer has learned to show compassion to even one human is more than Castiel can bear, now that he knows there is no way for him to ever again be free of his punishment.

Back in the Cage, Lucifer curls in on himself even tighter. Michael pulls at his wings and leaves deep wounds in his back, but Lucifer is silent. It hurts, and he wants to sob, but he is consumed by regret and grief. He has made a terrible, perhaps irreparable mistake.

He gave Castiel Sam’s body, but his soul stayed behind, too intertwined with Lucifer’s grace to be freed in time. Lucifer no longer cares what happens to him. He is accustomed to the torture of the Cage, and there is nothing Michael can do that he will not already have suffered thousandfold. He cannot be destroyed because he cannot leave the boundaries of the Cage, but he must remain whole for Sam’s sake. He must be the shield that defends Sam and keeps him safe.

Now he has a purpose, and it gives him courage. He will protect Sam’s soul and keep Michael from discovering it. He will save Sam from this torment, as much as he can.


End file.
